This invention in general relates to a system that will provide easier access to and from the cab of a large construction or farm vehicle.
Large vehicles are typically equipped with a cab mounted on top of the operative lower section of the vehicle, high above the ground level. The cabs of these vehicles are usually equipped with a door that ensures climate control within the cab. Some means are necessary to enable an operator to reach the cab level from the ground, and typically steps are mounted to the lower section of the vehicle to enable the operator to reach the cab. Also, a service platform may be used which extends outwardly from the door opening and acts as a final step into the cab.
It is desirable to have a means for guiding the operator into the cab and helping to support the operator as he moves vertically between the cab and the ground level. The prior art vehicles have had a fixed guide rail which is mounted to the cab housing parallel to and offset from one side of the cab door opening. This arrangement does not provide adequate guidance for the operator. Another prior arrangement may be described as a bent tube on the cab door. However, operators who use these types of vehicles typically enter and leave the cab quickly. It can be inconvenient or awkward to do this using a fixed or bent guide rail. If a handle were placed within the cab, it would also be inconvenient or awkward, if not impossible, for the operator to reach the handle and guide himself into the vehicle cab. Thus, there is a need for an improved guide rail system for the cab assembly of large vehicles.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a guide rail assembly that will provide an operator easy access to the operator's station and permit the operator to return quickly and easily between the cab and the ground level.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a guide rail assembly that is compact and strategically located so that it does not interfere with any other operations that an operator performs within the vehicle cab.
These and other objects are addressed by the present invention.